Should Heart Of Darkness Be Taught In Schools

The Heart of Darkness

The debate on what novels should be required for certain courses in high school has been a major discussion for some time now. The racism and inhumanity that some novels portray is deemed cruel and offensive. Joseph Conrad’s, The Heart of Darkness is one of those novels whose relevance is questioned as a requirement. According to Chinua Achebe, famous Nigerian author and critic, the book is too offensive and hurtful towards the native Africans. Racism and slavery have been a major part of the world’s history and always will be. It is an inevitable subject that needs to be taught in schools so the world’s history is constantly being exposed. The Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad, should definitely be taught

Achebe believes that the book brings up sore subjects of those who suffered, “his heart of darkness plagues us still” (Achebe 6). It can be deemed very offensive for some people and very hurtful. As Achebe states, the novel “parades in the most vulgar fashion prejudices and insults from which a section of mankind has suffered untold agonies and atrocities in the past and continues to do so in many ways and many places today… the very humanity of black people is called in question” (Achebe, 6). The Heart of Darkness refers to the natives as “’Black shapes”’ (HOD, 19) whose faces looked “like grotesque masks” (HOD, 15). The novella does not portray the native African people in a pleasant manor so it is understandable for Achebe to be disgusted with the novel and its’ portrayal of “my own people in Nigeria” (Conrad, 5). Throughout Achebe’s criticism, he cannot deny “Conrad’s great talents. Even Heart of Darkness has its memorably good passages and moments” (Achebe 5). Achebe was not consistent with his criticism of Conrad. He even stated, “the most interesting and revealing passages in Heart of Darkness are, however, about he people. I must crave the indulgence of my reader to quote almost a whole page” (Achebe 2). He did not specify which people so he could very well have meant the natives which would counteract his

The Heart of Darkness’s “…strongest statements about imperialism…” come directly from Conrad; “‘the criminality of inefficiency and pure selfishness when tackling the civilizing work in Africa is a justifiable idea. The subject of our time distinctly”’ (Hawkins). Conrad is a representation of his time and is an example of a man coming from that time. The whole point of imperialism comes from the “white mans burden” Europeans felt towards natives of underprivileged countries. Men like Conrad wanted to educate and Christianize the natives because they felt guilty. However, they took it too far and turned it into a tyranny for the natives and mainly started working to fulfill their greed. The Heart of Darkness also represents the impressionistic art that was famous in the 19th century. Much like impressionistic art, the novel up close may look like it has a lot of tiny little paint strokes, but when the reader stands back to look at the big picture everything looks blended and very well thought out. Conrad’s novel not only has artistic and historical elements to it that are worth discussing in certain high school courses, but it also has prime literary elements that were popular during that time, such as ambiguity and allusions. The numerous themes the novel contains are important to discuss in certain courses, like the roles of women. The only way